Guilds > Global Mentoring > Theories

Mentees - Who Are They?

Before we even begin to consider speculating on tactics and strategies for integregration and retention of new players, it's imperative that we understand to the best of our ability who these people are, why they're here, and what their expectations are. With this knowledge in hand we can temper and adjust our interactions with them to best suit them on an individual basis. This article shall attempt to define general and specific categories of new players, and examines best practice when interacting with them.

Player & Personality Types

With experience, it becomes relatively easy to spot stereotypical personality types. Of course, not all individuals can be grouped so easily into 'Straight from Wow', or 'First MMORPG' - but in the majority of cases your initial interactions with a new player will give hints as to their experience and expectations of the game, and thus provide you with a suitable place and style to begin your mentoring of your student.

The 'wrong kind' of mentoring for a student can, in many cases, prove fatal. The problem, however, is that the definition is different for every student. In some cases, players on the Welcome Island may be spurred on by snippets of information about some of the higher technologies on the mainland. Others may need encouragement to discover the information on the wiki themselves. Others still may struggle to the extent where they need live demonstrations on how to grow flax - it's easy to imagine how in depth discussions about Alchemy might scare these people away. So, how do we know what the 'right' type of interaction is for any given student?

Narrowing It Down

When players first arrive on the Island, it's often very easy to pick out the 'extremes' of the scale by their initial reactions.

It's easy to identify those who are going to quit before they reach a school - they tend to gripe about the graphics, ignore pointers and suggestions from mentors, never get down the initial hill, and then resort to profanities before quitting.

At the other end of the scale is the enthusiast. They've often read the wiki in depth before playing, and dash through the island tasks in the hopes of getting involved with research and community projects as soon as possible. These types of players often risk burnout, but that will be discussed in later articles.

The target of our efforts, therefor, should be the central area of this scale. Those who may struggle and need assistance, and those who a careful sales pitch (whether it be about later technology, the legal system, xenobotany...) will encourage them to stay on.

How To Identify The Best Approach

On the Island, 'Island Chat' is a very useful tool. Questions from mentors can be phrased so as to elicit certain types of responses, from which you can gain an idea of an individuals needs and abilities. For example, the responses to, 'Everybody worked out the key to flax growing?' (rather than 'Who needs help with flax?', which players who've mastered might find offensive or ignore completely...) should give you an instant idea of people's abilities and the type of help they're going to need. Carefully phrased questions and banter should keep Island Chat moving, and keep things interesting. If the conversation is geared too specifically to higher or lower level content, people are going to ignore it.

When you've got an idea of the levels that these people are at, it's often a good idea to physically go to them - especially those who are struggling (beware of warping to players unless you're confident that it won't confuse them - 'How do you warp?' and 'Can I be a mentor?' inevitably lead to a lot more confusion that they'd generally be better off without at such an early and fragile stage) - and introduce yourself. This personal connection is key. I often find myself chatting about how they got into the game, dropping bits of info about guilds, tests, and so forth.

You should now be in a position where you're able to adapt your approach to the individual, understanding some of their background, abilities and expectations. With this information, you can temper your mentoring to suit their learning styles, aims and goals within the game.

The most important thing to remember is that it's very unwise to try and 'change' new players to suit your own mentoring styles. You yourself need to be adaptable and to understand their needs, and to hold their hand just enough to keep them standing, but encourage them to take their first steps on their own.

On the mainland things are a little more complex, given the size and depth of content in Egypt. How best to introduce players to the scope of the game without scaring them away is covered in later articles.

Notes / Suggestions

Notes placed here may be gradually incorporated into existing texts in whole or in part. If your note vanishes, it's likely because it's been mashed about, moved, taken to pieces and put back together within the main body of the text on this or another page.

Noreferti
I inform them they are in a tutorial and for that reason, have a very little look on the game while they are on the island. I tell them they have a sort of quest to achieve (specially if they played another MMO before). That fixes their mind and focuses them on what they have to do. It's also often an open door to what they will find in Egypt and give them a strong motivation to continue. When a newcomer asks me what I do in Egypt, I don't say I'm a guild's leader or a translator or something like that, but I say : hmmm depend on the day : fishing, dancing, smoking herbs, building pyramid, drinking my last wine and ... hmmm let me remember, mushrooming, making sculptures ... ;-) I give them Egypt in Technicolor